Ornamental organic derivative of cellulose fabric



Patentecl Mar. 30, 1943 l ORNAMENTAL ORGANIC DERIVATIVE F CELLULOSEFABRIC Arthur Lyem, Cumberland, Md., assignor to Gelanese Corporation ofAmerica, a corporation of Delaware No Drawing; Application May 15, 1941,Y 1 Serial No. 393,675

This invention relates to ornamental fabrics, and more particularly tothe production of pate,

' tern effects upon fabrics made of or containing yarns having a basisof an organic derivative of cellulose. An object of my invention .is theproduction unusual overall cockledeffect after the resist is v removedand the fabric suitably finished.

of pattern effects upon fabrics made of or Icon-' taining yarns of anorganic derivativeof cellulose in a rapid and economical manner. j

Another object of my invention is the production of ornamental'fabricswherein the pattern or design on said ornamental fabrics is permaothercleansing operations.

Other objects of my invention will appear from the following detaileddescription.

Ornamental fabrics presenting in variety of patterned effects have beenprepared by weaving said fabrics on special looms such as the Jacquardloom or by making the fabrics on various lace-making machines. Due tothe fact that the setting-up and operation of looms and machines of thistype is highly complicated for each particular pattern that is woven,the looms and machines are not easily adapted to rapid changes inpattern andas a result, when these patterned fabrics are Woven, they arequite costly unless made in large quantities.

I have now discovered that ornamental fabrics made of or containingyarns of an organic denent and highly resistant to laundering andrivative of cellulose and presenting patterned fabric are acted upon andshrunk by the nonaqueous shrinking agent and. after the fabric has beendried and washed with an aqueous solu tion, the resulting resist-freefabric presents an unusual ornamental patterned effect which is quitesimilar in appearance to fabrics woven'on a Jacquard loom or made onlace machines. By printing the fabric with the resist compound in anydesired pattern, an unlimited variety of patterned effects may beobtained which are substantially permanently set in the fabric and' in apredetermined pattern, it may also beap-v plied at random along thelength of the yarns before they are formed intoa fabric and theresulting fabric may then be subjected to the shrinking trmtment.yielding a fabric having an Various water-soluble resist compounds maybe employed in the preparation of the novel fab- These water-soluble'ref sists may be resins such as, for example, those 1 rics of myinvention.

obtained from polyvinyl alcohol, gums, sucha's gum arabic, or proteinmaterials such as albumen and casein. Other resists which are solubleinwatermay likewise be employed. I

The volatile, non-aqueous shrinking agents which are applied to thefabrics may be, for example, organic liquids having a swelling action onthe organic derivatives of cellulose, or solutions of said organicliquids mixed with inert organic diluents having substantially nosolvent diluents which have no solvent action on the organic derivativesof cellulose are benzene, carbon tetrachloride, toluene, xylene andkerosene.

These diluents may be mixed with the organic J shrinking agent in anydesired proportion depending upon the activity of the swelling agent andthe degree of shrinking desired in the final patterned fabric. Theliquid mixture of shrinking agent and diluent should, of course, be sochosen that it has little or no solvent'action on the water-soluble,resist compound which has been applied to the fabric. Preferably, Iemploy a mixture of acetaldehyde and xylene.

The fabrics treated in accordance with 'my invention may be woven,knitted ,or netted and may be composed entirely of yarns of an organicderivative of cellulose or they may contain in addition to the organicderivative of cellulose yarns, yarns of other materials which areunaffected by the shrinking agents, such as, for example, yarns ofcotton, silk, wool or regenerated cellulose. The fabrics may likewise becomposed of or contain yarns which are spun from staple fibers having abasis of an organic derivative of cellulose blended with staple fibersof cotton, silk, wool or regenerated cellulose so that the resultingspun yarns are only in part affected by the shrinking agent.

In addition to the use of diluents for controlling the activity of theshrinking agent, the activity thereof may also be controlled by varyingthe temperature at which the shrinking'agent is ap plied to the fabricas well as the time during which the shrinking agent is permitted torein water.

main in contact with the fabric. Where the shrinking agent has a markedsolvent action on the organic derivatives of cellulose, relatively lowtemperatures and brief immersion times are preferable. solvent action, ahigher temperature or a longer period of immersion may be employed. Theparticular conditions chosen may be varied over a Wide range and aredetermined by the degree of shrinking desired. Temperatures of from C.to 25 C. with contact or immersion times of from seconds to 2 minutesgive satisfactory results.

In treating the fabric, the shrinking agent may be applied in many ways.Bath methods may be employed, or, if preferred, the shrinking agent maybe applied by padding or spraying the same on to the fabric.

Where the shrinking agent has a limited While my invention is ofparticular application with regard to fabrics made of or containingyarns or fibers of cellulose acetate, other organic esters of celluloseas well as ethers of cellulose may be employed. Examples of othercellulose esters are cellulose propionate, cellulose butyrate and mixedesters such as cellulose acetate-propionate and celluloseacetate-butyrate, while examples of cellulose ethers are ethyl celluloseand benzyl cellulose.

In order further to illustrate my invention,- but without being limitedthereto, the following examples are given:

Example I A cellulose acetate fabric, with a satin weave, is printed ina pattern, by means of a screen, with a resist comprising 5% of apolyvinyl alcohol resin The fabric is then dried and subjected to aswelling and shrinking action by impregnating the reserve printed fabricwith a solution of equal parts by volume of acetaldehyde and xylenemaintained at '15" to 20 C. The fabric is treated for about 20 to 30seconds, after-which it is dried and washed. The resulting fabric has apermanent design therein similar to a jacquard weave and retains itsoriginal soft hand.

Example II 10 to C. The fabric is treated for about 30 to.

40 seconds with subsequent drying, washing and dyeing. The resultingfinished fabric has a permanent design therein similar to -a jacquardweave, and retains its original soft hand and strength.

Example III A cellulose acetate fabric with a crepe Weave is printed ina pattern by means of a roller'w'ith a resist comprising 5% of albumenin water. The fabric is then subjected, after the drying, to a swellingand shrinking action by impregnating the resist-printed fabric with asolution of equal parts by volume of acetone and benzene, maintained at15 to C. The fabric is treated for about seconds after which it is driedandwashed. The resulting fabric has a permanent design similar to ajacquard weave or lace.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is merelygiven by way of illustration and that many variations may be madetherein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. Process for the production of fabrics presenting ornamental effects,which comprises locally applying a water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol resinresist coating to a fabric containing yarns of an organic derivative ofcellulose and then subjecting said fabric to the action of a volatilenon-aqueous medium having a shrinking action on the ,uncoated portion ofthe organic derivative of cellulose yarns.

2. Process for the production of fabrics presenting ornamental effects,which comprises locally applying a water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol resinresist coating to a fabric containing yarns of an organic derivative ofcellulose and then subjecting said fabric to the action of a volatilenon-aqueous liquid comprising acetaldehyde so that the uncoated portionof the organic derivative of cellulose yarns is shrunk.

'3. Process for the production of fabrics presenting ornamental effects,which comprises locally applying a water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol resinresist coating to a fabric containing yarns of cellulose acetate andthen subjecting said fabric to the action of a non-aqueous liquidcomprising acetaldehyde and xylene so that the uncoated portion of thecellulose acetate yarns is shrunk.

4.'Process for the production of fabrics presenting ornamental effects,which comprises 10- cally applying a water-soluble polyvinyl alcoholresin resist coating to a fabric containing yarns of an organicderivative of cellulose and then subjecting said fabric to the action ofa non-- aqueous liquid comprising equal parts by volume of acetaldehydeand xylene so that the uncoated portion of the organic derivative ofcellulose yarns is shrunk.

'5. Process for the production of fabrics presenting ornamental effects,which comprises locally applying a water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol resinresist coating to a fabric containing yarns of cellulose acetate andthen subjecting said fabric to the action of a non-aqueous liquidcomprising equal parts by volume of acetaldehyde and xylene so that theuncoated portion of the cellulose acetate yarns is shrunk.

6. Process for the production of fabrics presenting ornamental effects,which comprises locally applying a water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol resinresist coating to a fabric containing yarns,

of cellulose acetate and then subjecting said fabric to the action of anon-aqueous liquid comprising equal parts by volume of acetaldehyde andcarbon tetrachloride so that the uncoated portion of the celluloseacetate yarns is shrunk.

7. Process forthe production of fabrics presenting ornamental effects,which comprises locally applying a water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol resinresist coating to a fabric containing yarns

